We are making a point of saying Joey had “an accident with his bike” rather than Joey was “hit by a car” because even though it is true, it sounds so horrific.
We were very lucky. He is fine.
We were biking together yesterday morning (trying to be virtuous, dammit!). We were riding on the sidewalk. I know they say you’re safer riding in the street, but I have always assumed that only applies to adults who know how to drive and therefore know what to expect from traffic. So we were sailing down a fairly steep hill (South Seventh between Liberty and Washington, if you know Ann Arbor) with a good distance between us — me in front — when all of a sudden a car turned into a driveway right in front of Joey. He was not able to stop in time (I later learned he’d been sailing down the hill no-handed) and he smashed into the car.
I was pretty far ahead of Joey, and when I turned around to check on his progress it was almost immediately apparent that something had happened: the car in the driveway blocking the sidewalk and my view, the driver getting out and running around to the other side, the pickup truck passing by that stopped in the middle of the road, the lady rushing out of her house. I pedaled back up that hill faster than I ever would have believed possible.
To make a long story short: he has a broken nose and a cut just under his eyebrow (four stitches). But his helmet was completely intact and he had no symptoms of brain injury whatsoever. Throughout the ordeal he remained his own inimitable Joey self. At one point a nurse commented that she didn’t think she’d ever heard an 11yo kid use the word “exhilarating” — Joey’s explanation of why he was going down the hill so fast, no-handed. Even before we got home he was milking this thing for all it was worth (”Can we have sushi for dinner? Can we get donuts?”). And in case there was any lingering doubt, this morning he tried to manipulate me into allowing him to watch a video after his dad had already told him no.
One other thing about this: it was amazing how smoothly everything went after the accident. The emergency people arrived within minutes, and they were so comforting. At the hospital we hardly had to wait for anything (maybe because we arrived by ambulance, but also because the pediatric ER happened to be empty at the time). We were taken to the university hospital, which is not the one we would normally go to because of our HMO. So we are not used to being in a teaching hospital and it was a little unsettling having to listen to the doctor instructing the student on best suturing practice. But as far as I can tell, they did a great job, and they exceeded my expectations in the bedside manner department.
Speaking of bedside manner, I have some cheers and jeers: First, cheers to the chief oral maxillofacial surgeon, Dr. Armand Kotikian. The very first thing he did upon entering the room was give Joey a friendly little squeeze on the arm and say, “Hi Joey, my name is Armand. May I take a look at you?” Second, cheers to Dr. Lozon, who in addition to being very kind, gave us a new vocabulary word. Joey: “I’m gonna name my next D&D character Cosmesis!” My only jeer is for the hospital administrator who a) looked back and forth between my ponytailed son and his chart a couple of times and said, “is this… Josephine?” and then b) began quizzing me on whether I was going to file an auto claim while I was still very freaked out; she responded to my blank stare with a lecture about how Michigan is a no-fault state (no, duh!).
So… today we’re having donuts for breakfast. On Tuesday the stitches come out. In about a week, after the swelling has gone down, we’ll take him to the ENT people to see if anything needs to be done about his nose. And meanwhile I will be doing some research on kids and bicycle safety. If anyone has advice or resources please share.
13 Comments
Yikes. How scary. I’m glad he’s okay!
OMG! You poor guys! I’m so sorry! I’m also glad that things worked out as well as they did, and I hope Joey keeps up the great attitude!
Oh, that made my heart stop to read this! So, so glad that he’s ok!
Oh, wow! “Ordeal” is so understated, and though I understand the desire for this to not be a “big thing,” I suspect it’s bigger, if only emotionally, than you make it out to be here ;-) Hugs to you all, and a big fat pox on the hospital administrator!
I’m glad you put the “He is fine” part near the top. If his donut-processing system is not damaged, I guess he’ll be alright.
I don’t have info on kids and bicycle safety but, with regard to Joey’s “exhilarating” hands-free approach to steep hills, I have this from the textbook for my current course on Adolescent Psychology: “Adolescents and emerging adults tend to be higher in sensation seeking than adults (Arnett 1994b; Zuckerman 2003).” And “Sensation seeking rises at puberty (Martin et al., 2002).”
Instead of risky driving, maybe you can get him interested in TV and computer games? The book says “media consumption” is a major source of sustenance for adolescents seeking sensation. (Aunts are so helpful, aren’t they?)
Julie, I’m so glad Joey is o.k. That is terrifying. I’m also glad that (barring the idiot administrator) everything went so smoothly for you all.
So awesome with the D&D, too! G is getting into this now, and she LOVES it.
Thanks for all your good wishes! He had a great day yesterday. We’re giving him Motrin to keep the swelling down, but even when it wears off he isn’t in any pain. He’s in good spirits, especially because he gets to skip martial arts for a while.
Kristy, yeah, it’s a bit of an understatement!
Aunt Sara, gosh, I don’t know… TV and computer games? That would be a really tough sell. Ha ha!
Suzan, Joey recently started a blog. He made a pathetic plea for other “D&D obsessed preteens” to leave comments because he just wants to know that “there is another person out there.” He would be pretty darn thrilled to get a comment from G (or anyone else with a D&D obsessed preteen — Melissa?). His blog is hidden from search engines so if you guys don’t help me out… His blog address is almost the same as mine — just substitute the word floopy for the word bookworm.
Oh my, I’m so glad he’s okay. This almost happened to my oldest once–it was a semi-truck and would not have had such a good outcome. Stopped my heart. I have no advice except use hands and brakes on hills.
Hi. I’m a stranger to you, but I live in Ann Arbor too. I wondered where you found your book club, because I’ve been looking for one to join w/o much success. Thank you for your help, however, off topic I may be. Chacucha@aol.com
I feel guilty to have learned about this at book group last night instead of the blog. What a negligent reader (and friend) I am. I will be in touch.
Whew..I’m glad everything is OK, but how scary for everyone. How about skateboarding - AT A SKATEBOARD PARK and with proper safety equipment. Great exercise and thrills in a semi controled environment.
Wow, sorry I haven’t checked you out for a while, it’s school holidays here. Good to hear that Joey’s going OK now. That was quite a story! In the dangerous activities league - D and I went ice skating for the first time ever today. D got a small hole in his knee (when he fell on to my skate before we’d got anywhere near the ice), and I fell hard on my bum, but I would probably recommend it as an alternative to a northerner, seeing as you’ve all probably been doing it since you could walk.
Hi mom. I like listening to everyone talk about how glad they am that I’m okay. Who’s G?